Page 8 of Raising Hell: MMF Edition

“No, it… isn’t.” Her voice is as weak as her argument as my grin spreads even wider. Suddenly, her eyes narrow and her pointer finger jabs into my chest. “Don’t laugh at me!”

My hands fly up in surrender, still grinning as her cheeks flush in anger. “No harm meant, Red.”

“Ruby,” she mutters. When I quirk my brow, she explains, “My name is Ruby, not Red.”

“Right, okay… so, Ruby. Care to explain why I’m here?”

Her fingers pull into a fist at her side as she grows even more flustered. She steals a quick glance at my naked body, chirping a mouse-like squeak as her eyes snap back up to meet mine. My smile is hurting my cheeks at this point, because this isdelightful. “I didn’t mean to…summonyou. This wasn’t my intention.”

“What was your intention, if not to call me to this realm?"

A deeper shade of petal pink paints her cheeks as she looks away. “Doesn’t matter… this wasn’t it, so you can go.” She nods, like she’s made some sort of grand decision. “Yes, that’s it. You may go now.” Her hand waves through the air, dismissing me with the flick of her wrist.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

Her eyes fly back to mine, narrowed and suspicious. Panicked, but trying to hide it. “What do you mean ‘isn’t that simple’?”

“Well,” I say, dragging the word out as I reach for her and twist one of her pretty red curls around my finger. A peculiar mix of a squawk and a honk leaves her as she lurches backward, and my hand hits the barrier of the summoning circle. “You are the witch who summoned me. It’s your spell that brought me here, and only your spell can return me home.”

She sputters, clearly in the dark about all of this. “But I don’t know how to send you back!”

“Can you at least let me out of this circle? No spell needed for that; you just have to speak permission for me to leave.”

“Absolutely not!” she shouts, her wide eyes finding mine again. “You might… do…things!”

Another grin slides across my face. “What sort of things might I do?” I purr, and she flushes deeper.

“Demon things!” she exclaims, gesturing up my body.

I give her a contemplative hum. “I’m going to need specifics here. What exactly do you know about demons?”

Her shoulders droop as her eyes fall to the floor, and a wave of sympathy hits me as she mumbles, “Nothing. I don’t know anything about demons... aboutanyof this.”

“Then why’d you do it?” I ask, gentle.

She sniffles, and I’m glad she’s looking down because my face would betray me in a heartbeat. The way my lip pokes out at her sadness definitely contradicts the tough guy persona I’m trying to maintain. “I’m so tired of things not going my way,” she whispers, before averting her eyes like she’s embarrassed.

“Does someone need a hug?” She freezes, unnaturally still for a squirmy human. “Oh, come on, Ruby. I don’t bite… unless you want me to.” She lets out a strangled cough at my cheeky wink, and I grin again. There’s a touch against my ankle, and I glance down to find a cat rubbing against me.

ACAT!

“Aww, and who are you?” I coo, crouching and running my fingers through the soft black fur. Completely forgetting myself, my voice gets higher pitched as I squeal. “Oh, myGOD,I have never gotten to pet a cat before! Is it always so… so…fluffy?”

Ruby turns and faces me with a frown, and I’m smiling like a maniac as I look up at her. Her brows furrow before she glances down, jerking her head to the side with another of those adorable squeaks, and I follow her gaze.

Oh, right. My lack of clothes means my cock hangs between my thighs, and I breathe out a soft laugh at her bashfulness. “Could you put some clothes on?” she hisses, and my laugh turns indignant.

“You were the one that summoned me!” I argue, standing again and picking the cat up with me, not willing to stop pettingit. Crossing my arms, I neither confirm nor deny that I push my hips out on purpose. Or that I give a little wiggle, hoping to draw her eye back. “I was enjoying a lazy afternoon in my hot tub, so it’s not my fault I’m here in the nude!”

Now, could I summon clothing? Absolutely. Many of my demon powers work fine in the human realm, as long as they mean no harm to my master. But she doesn’t need to learn that little piece of information yet.

Not while I’m having fun.

“Hot tub?” she cries, incredulously. “I’m over here having a goddamned existential breakdown, and you’re just skinny dipping in your fucking jets?”

My eyes widen at her outburst, and I dig my fingers deeper into the cat’s fur. This shit is calming. “Want to talk about it?”

For a few seconds, she breathes heavily, her chest rising and falling until her eyes slowly shift back towards me. “No, I don’t want to talk about it! Talking about it already made me cuss!” That’s… different. I cock my head at the statement, but she stomps her foot and distracts me again. “I want my cat.”

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